DEVOTION- F•E•A•R
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
Fear and worry is something that the majority of people live with. I did a small 3 question survey to see how people deal with these emotions. According to the survey, the majority of those that participated stated that their biggest fears were dying, losing a loved one (especially their children) and family dying without knowing the Lord. The second question was, “How do you deal with your fears and
worries?” The main answer was through prayer, while others said medication and some said they just deal with it. The final question was, “Do you feel it’s ok to let fear and worry consume you?” Everyone said No. I decided to do a little digging to see what the Lord has to say about fear and worry.
The definition of fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat”. We all face fears! There are two basic kind of fears. First there are good fears, these fears are the ones that protect you. Examples would be being afraid of being hurt if you were to be
reckless and jump out of a window or a moving vehicle or fear of going to jail if you were to take something that doesn’t belong to you. These fears actually protect you but there are also bad fear. This is when you let your concerns consume you to the point of being emotionally unable to function or until they cause you to no longer trust in God.
Isaiah 41:10-13 says, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness...For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."
The opposite of Faith is Fear. As a child of God, fear is not an option. A quick way to remember is that Faith is believing what God says and Fear is believing what the devil says. The devil uses fear to distract us from God...so Fear is from the devil! God says, in Timothy 1:7, “He has not given you the spirit of fear”. He also says in
Isaiah 35:4, “Tell everyone who is discouraged, Be strong and don’t be afraid! God is coming to your rescue”. God is always by your side and his Word aggressively tells us not to worry and to trust in Him. The phrase “Do not Fear” is written in the Bible 365 times, that’s a daily reminder from God to live everyday fearless!
As indicated by the survey, people are afraid of many things, death, fear of failure, fear of something happening to someone they love, fear of dealing with their finances, fear of someone hurting them and if you’re like me, fear of bad weather. It is one thing to be concerned but when you let that concern overwhelm you, paralyze you to a point where you can’t function then you have allowed your
fears to turn to sin. There are many instances throughout Gods word
where people were afraid;
•Peter was afraid, so he denied Jesus.
•Moses was afraid to go back to Egypt to face Pharaoh.
•Lot was afraid of the people of Zoar so he went to live in a cave in the mountains.
•Adam and Eve were afraid after they sinned so they hid from God.
We are no different from the people before us. We are all human and fear
is a human reaction. It’s how we deal with those fears that determines our Faith.
Do you let your fears cripple you or do you hit your knees and let God help you through them? Some people look at F•E•A•R as Forget Everything And Run but a better acronym would be, Faith Erases All Reservations.
A scripture to lean on during your time of fear and worry is Philippians 4:6, “Don't
be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Put your trust in the Lord and rest, knowing that even during your times of fear and worry that you have someone to call on and to lean on.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” Psalm 91:1-2
Let your Faith be bigger than your Fears!
– Cindy Howell
- I love, love, LOVE this!!!! I've always felt like I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof, but through Him, I'm 20 feet tall and bombproof!! lol Thanks Cindy, this devotion is awesome!!!